Web rolling machine



April 24, 1956 G. F. WATKINS 2,743,065

WEB ROLLING MACHINE Filed April 8, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.6505 5 E Warm/vs FIG. ZVM M Km H T men/5J5 April 24, 1956 G. F. WATKINS2,743,065

WEB ROLLING MACHINE Filed April 8, 1952- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 65025 E WAT/(INS IM/a M m prroe/vys United States Patent WEB ROLLING MACHINEGeorge F. Watkins, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, toRol-O-Matic Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Application April 8,1952, Serial No. 281,071

6 Claims. (Cl. 242--66) This invention relates to web conveying androlling equipment in general and relates specifically to an applicationthereof for rolling toweling.

Linen supply services provide towel dispensing apparatus which requiresa length of toweling to be wrapped in a tight roll. The usual practiceis to take the toweling from an ironing machine to a wrapping station.Here the end of the toweling is hand fed to a roller bar, and then apower drive is initiated to drive the roller bar and wrap the towelingthereon. I

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide apparatus tointercept a web traveling on the surface of a conveyor, and divert thatweb to another web carrying device.

I Another object of this invention is to intercept and invert the web bylooping the web to a reverse direction.

Another object of this invention is to adapt the interceptionapparatusto provide automatic feed starting of a strip of webbing, such astoweling, upon a receiving roller bar without human aid.

Still another object of this invention is to provide feed startingapparatus which is automatically actuated to an out of way positionafter'its purpose has been served.

Yet another object of this invention is to actuate the feed startingmechanism to an inoperative position by use of an overcenter means.

And another object of this invention is to provide an endless beltinterception mechanism crossing the path of the towel and gripping thetowel against the rear side of the receiving roller bar, with an idlerroller to guide the belt until the roll of towel builds up considerably,whereupon a lever arm support for the idler roller falls overcenter andinactivates the interception mechanism.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which: I

Figure l is a front elevational view of an automatic towel rollingapparatus embodying a specific application of this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the apparatus, taken along line 2-2 ofFigure 1, as it appears when made ready to begin Wrapping a length oftoweling into a roll upon a bar;

Figure Sis taken from the same position as Figure 2, but illustrates theactuation of the feed initiating apparatus as the toweling is wrapped;and

Figure 4 is a similar view after the feed initiating apparatus hasdropped overcenter to an inactive position.

' The specific embodiment of the invention into the form of an apparatusfor automatically wrapping long strips of toweling into a tight roll isillustrated in the figures as comprising a frame It) with a drivenconveyor de noted generally by the reference character 11 therein topick up the toweling, or other flexible web, as it is fed from anothermachine. In the linen supply industry the toweling is fed through hugeironing machines at a very- 2,743,065 Patented Apr. 24, 1956 the shortconveyor 11 to pick up that web and feed it toward the wrappingmechanism hereinafter described.

The conveyor 1 1 comprises a first roller 12 and a second roller 13 anda plurality of conveyor belts, illustrated as three in number in thisembodiment of the invention, are indicated by the reference characters14, 15, and 16. A roller device 17 may be provided to press against thesurface of the belts 14, 15, and 16 to stop any tendency of the belt tovibrate and to hold the Webbing in tight contact with with the surfaceof the belts.

There are many instances wherein it is desirable to strip a webbing fromthe surface of a conveyor, and the present invention provides animproved stripping method, regardless of its application. For strippingthe web from the conveyor 11, two belts 24, which may be referred to asbelt means to indicate any desired number of individual belts, arethreaded upward between the individual belts 14, 15, and 16 on suitableguide rollers placed above and below the conveyor 11. Thus, the webtravels along a given path on the surfaz e of the belts 14, 15 and 16 ofconveyor 11 until the web is intercepted by the belts 24 passing ufivardly between the individual belts of the conveyor 11. The web isthen carried off the conveyor 11 by the belts 24.

This strippidg action is carried further in the contemplation of thisinvention and used to invert and return the webbing in a directiongenerally opposite from which it is traveling. The drawings illustrate areceiving roller bar 20 which may broadly be employed to represent theend roller of a second conveyor, or as specifically employed in theillustrated embodiment of the invention, as a driven roller bar uponwhich the webbing may be rolled and stored. In either event, as thetoweling or web is intercepted by the belts 24, it is gripped betweenthe rear side of the roller bar 20 and carried upwardly along the rearside. The distance that the well will stay in contact with the surfaceof the roller bar 20 depends upon the distance that the belts 24 areguided around the bar 7 20, and whether the apparatus is orientated toemploy gravity to hold the webbing in contact with the surface a greaterperiod of time. The bar 20, if used as the beginning of a secondconveyor, may extend axially parallel with the axis of the second roller13, or it may be placed parallel with the surface of the conveyor 11 andat an angle with respect to the axis of roller 13.

In the specific application of this invention to the laundry and towelsupply industry for the purpose of wrapping towels into rolls fordispensing cabinets, an idler roller 21 for belts 24 is mounted on theend of an arm 22;. The arm 22 is swung from a pivot 23.

It is not essential for all uses of the present invention that theroller bar 29 be transversely shiftable with respect to the conveyor 11,but when this bar 20 is used as the core upon which a towel is wrapped,it must be transversely shiftable in order to allow for the toweling tobuild up thereon. Therefore, slots 18 and 19 are provided in the frame10. The ends of the roller bar 2i) are provided with pins 27 to fit intothe slots 18 and 1E and guide the bar 20 as the towel builds up thereon.

Figure 2 of the drawings illustrates the beginning of a towel rollingoperation, and a towel 30 is shown dropping onto the conveyor 11 andbeginning to move along with the surface thereof Bwards the roller bar20. That towel 30 will be gripped between the surface of the belts 24and the rear surface of the roller bar 20 and carried around the rearside of the roller bar 20 until it emerges on top of the roller bar 20at the place where the belts 24 and the bar 20 part. When used in avertical position as illustrated in the drawings and for the purpose ofrolling towels from an ironing machine, the toweling willthembc-pulled-down'bygravity and will carry on in contact with the frontsurface of, thewroller bant as,

rotation of the bar 20 continues. As a consequence, the towel web willbe fed down upon the surface of the toweling lying upon the conveyor11', and 'consequentl'ywill be fed along with thetoweling backaround'therear side of the roller bar ZG-again. Once theendofithetoweling has thus-been wrapped completely around thetroller,bar and the end-thereof caught under atlayer' of; toweling, the feedingaction has been started? and would maintain itself without further aidofthe-belts 24.-

A further feature of' this invention is the automatic means for removingthe belts-24 from the vicinity or} the roll of toweling once the rollingaction-hasbeen-definitely started; Figure 3' illustrates theprocess-of'the/apparatus as rolling gets definitely under way. The towelingt3llbegins to develop into a. definite-roll 31. This rollforces the idlerroller 21 to oneside; The'pivot 23' onzthe arm 22 is preferably locatedat a' position lower than the starting position of the-roller barZO/andsome arbitrary distance forward of the conveyor II in. order tocause the arm22 to reach a position beyond theverticahposi tion beforethe roll 31 has been completed. Prior to the time that the arm 22reaches a vertical position, its

weight and the weight of the belts 24 will urgeltheroller,

21 toward the roller bar 20; After the roll 31 reaches such a diameterthat the arm 22 is forced beyond the vertical position, the arm is thensaid tobe overcenter' bodiment of the invention a gravity actuatedtake-uproller 25 is pivoted by antarm 25-'-a ona pivot 26and serves notonly to' guide the belts 24' but to take up.the slack belting when themachineis empty and to give belting whenever-the roll 31 buildsup.

The reduced diameter portion 28 on the roller 21 acts as a belt guide.Preferably, the roller 13 is provided with a reduced diameter area 29 toreceive. and guide the plurality of endless belts 24. Thesurface ofroller 13, other than at the reduced diameter area 29, is preferablyroughened to provide a good frictional driving surface to engage bolts14-, 15 and 16.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with acertain degree of particularly, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of exampleand that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement .of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

What is claimed is:

1. Web rolling mechanism comprisinga first plurality of endless beltsmovable in a path around a first set of spaced rollers to carry webbingforwardly inafirst plane in a direction toward one roller of said firstset of rollers, a second plurality'of'endless belts movable in a patharound a second set of' spaced rollers, said second plurality of endlessbelts passing between rollers of said first set of rollers to moveacrossthepath of said first plurality of endless belts and aroundsaid oneroller of the first set of rollers, the path of saidvsecond-lpluralityof endless belts being shiftable relativeto the *pathofsaid:

firstplurality of endless belts in said plane to move the path of saidsecond plurality of endless 'belts in a first position tointercept andcarry upwardly'from said plane webbing carried forward in said planeonsaid first set of endless belts and to a second position toavoid'intersecond plurality of endless belts moves the same to saidsecond position.

2. Web conveying and rolling mechanism comprising a web-receiving rollerfor rollingly receiving web material, first endless belt means forcarrying said web material forward in a plane toward said web-receivingroller, second endless belt means for carrying saidweb material upwardlyfrom said first endless belt means away'f'rom' said plane and towardsaid web-receiving roller, saidsecond belt means intersecting said planeat an'angle thereto, said second belt means and'said first belt means atthe. intersection of said plane having interleaved belt portions wherebythe web material traveling in said plane, on said first belt means isintercepted and carried upward 1y from said plane by said second beltmeans to said'webreceiving roller.

3. The combination of first belt means for carrying. web materialforwardly, second belt means for carrying. said web material upwardlyfrom said first belt means,. and a receiving roller for receiving saidweb material thereon upon rotation of the receiving roller, saidtfirst:andtsecond belt means being interleaved and intersecting each other atan angle to provide for interception of web. material carried forward bysaid first belt means by said second belt means and upwardly by thesecond belt means toward said receiving roller.

4. The combination of first belt means for carrying web materialforwardly, second belt means for carrying, said web material upwardlyfrom said first belt means, a receiving roller for receiving said webmaterialthereon: upon rotation of the receiving roller, said first andsecond: belt means being interleaved and intersecting eachiother at anangle to provide for interception of web material carried forward bysaid first belt means by saidsecond belt means and upwardly by thesecond belt means towardsaid receiving roller; and means responsive tothe amount of web material received by the, receiving roller forv movingsaid second belt means relative to the axis of said receiving roller.

5. The combination of first belt means for carryingv forward in a onepath a length of webbing or like material, second belt means forcarrying said webbing or like material away from said one path and in atdiverting; path at an angle to said one path, said first: and; secondbelt means having interleaved and intersecting portions arranged toprovide for interception of said forwardlycarriedwebbingor like materialin said one path and the carrying of the same away in said divertingpath, and a receiving rollerfor rollingly receiving said webbing, orlike material from said diverting path.

6. The combination of first belt means for carrying forward in a onepath a length of webbing or like material, second belt means forcarrying said webbing or like material away fromsaid one path and inadiverting; path at an angle to said one path, said first and secondbelt means having interleaved and intersecting portions: arranged toprovide for interception of said forwardly carried webbing or likematerial in said one path and thecarryingof the same away insaiddiverting; path,v a: receiving roller-for rollingly receiving saidwebbingpr like: material from said. diverting path, and compensating:means for changing said'diverting path prov ded-bysaid 5 6 SeCOnd beltmeans in accordance with the diameter of 1,995,741 Eitzen Apr. 24,1934the r011 of webbing or like material received by said 1,959,418 FournessMay 22, 1934 receiving roller. 2,270,043 Fourness et a1. Jan. 13, 19422,573,188 Dyken Oct. 30, 1951 References Cited in the file of thispatent 5 2 41,414 Dyken Jun 9, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PA1,810,690 Trinks et a1. June 16, 1931 472,844 Germany Mar. 6, 1929

